Page 68 - Dungeon Master's Guide

I

who has seen the Far Realm mutters about eyes,
SIGIL, CITY OF DOORS
At the center of the Outlands, like the axle of a great tentacles. and horror.
wheel, is the Spire-a needle-shaped mountain that The Far Realm has no well-know;n portals, or at least
rises high into the sky. Above this mountain's narrow none that are still viable. Ancient elves once opened a
peak floats the ring-shaped city of Sigil, its myriad vast portal to the Far Realm within ~ mountain called
structures built on the ring's inner rim. Creatures Firestorm Peak, but their civilizatioi imploded in bloody
standing on one of Sigil's streets can see the city curve terror and the portal's location-eve its home world- is
1
up over their heads and- most disconcerting of all-the long forgotten. Lost portals might still exist, marked by
far side of the city directly overhead. Called the City of an alien magic that mutates the area kround them.
Doors, this bustling planar metropolis holds countless
portals to other planes and worlds. KNOWN WORLDS dF THE
Sigil is a trader's paradise. Goods, merchandise, and I
information come here from across the planes. The city MATERIAL PLANE
sustains a brisk trade in information about the planes, Worlds of the Material Plane are infinitely diverse. The
particularly the command words or items required for most widely known worlds are the ones that have been
the operation of particular portals. Portal keys of all published as official campaign settings for the D&D
kinds are bought and sold here. game over the years. If your campaign takes place on
The city is the domain of the inscrutable Lady of Pain, one of these worlds, that world belongs to you in your
a being as old as gods and with purposes unknown to campaign. Your version of the world can diverge wildly
even the sages of her city. Is Sigil her prison? Is she the from what's in print.
fallen creator of the multiverse? No one knows. Or if On Toril (the heroic-fantasy world of the Forgotten
they do, they aren't telling. Realms setting), fantastic cities and kingdoms stand
amid the remains of ancient empires and realms
DEMIPLANES long forgotten. The world is vast, its dungeons rich
Demiplanes are extradimensional spaces that come with history. Beyond the central continent of Faerun,
into being by a variety of means and boast their own Tori! includes the regions of Al-Qadim, Kara-Tur,
physical laws. Some are created by spells. Others exist and Maztica.
On Oerth (the sword-and-sorcery world of the
naturally, as folds of reality pinched off from the rest
of the multiverse. Theoretically, a plane shift spell can Greyhawk setting), heroes such as Bigby and
carry travelers to a demiplane, but the proper frequency Mordenkainen are driven by greed or ambition. The
required for the tuning fork would be extremely hard to hub of the region called the Flanaess is the Free City of
acquire. The gate spell is more reliable, assuming the Greyhawk, a city of scoundrels and arch magi, rife with
caster knows of the demiplane. adventure. An evil demigod, Iuz, rules a nightmarish
A demiplane can be as small as a single chamber or realm in the north, threatening all civilization.
large enough to contain an entire realm. For example, On Krynn (the epic-fantasy world of the Dragonlance
a Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion spell creates a setting),. the return of the gods is overshadowed by the
demiplane consisting of a foyer with multiple adjoining rise of the evil dragon queen Takhisis and her dragons
rooms, while the land of Barovia (in the Ravenloft and dragonarmies, which plunge the continent of
setting) exists entirely within a demiplane under the Ansalon into war.
sway of its vampire lord, Strahd von Zarovich. When a On Athas (the sword-and-sorcery world of the Dark
Sun setting), a drop of water can be worth more than a
demiplane is connected to the Material Plane or some
other plane, entering it can be as simple as stepping human life. The gods have abandoned this desert world,
through a portal or passing through a wall of mist. where powerful sorcerer-kings rule as tyrants, and
metal is a scarce and precious commodity.
THE FAR REALM On Eberron (the heroic-fantasy world of the Eberron
setting), a terrible war has ended, giving rise to a cold
The Far Realm is outside the known multiverse. In war fueled by political intrigue. On the continent of
fact, it might be an entirely separate universe with its Khorvaire, magic is commonplace, dragonmarked
own physical and magical laws. Where stray energies houses rival kingdoms in power, and elemental vehicles
from the Far Realm leak onto another plane, matter make travel to the far corners of the world possible.
is warped into alien shapes that defy understandable
On Aebrynis (the heroic-fantasy world of the
geometry and biology. Aberrations such as mind flayers
Birthright setting), scions born from divine bloodlines
and beholders are either from this plane or shaped by its carve up the continent of Cerilia. Monarchs, prelates,
strange influence.
guildmasters, and great wizards balance the demands
The entities that abide in the Far Realm itself are of rulership against the threat of horrible abominations
too alien for a normal mind to accept without strain.
born from the blood of an evil god.
Titanic creatures swim through nothingness there, and
On Mystara (a heroic-fantasy world born out of the
unspeakable things whisper awful truths to those who
earliest editions of the D&D game), diverse cultures,
dare listen. For mortals, knowledge of the Far Realm
savage monsters, and warring empires collide.
is a struggle of the mind to overcome the boundaries of
The world is further shaped by the meddling of the
matter, space, and sanity. Some warlocks embrace this
Immortals- former adventurers raised to nearly
struggle by forming pacts with entities there. Anyone
divine status.
CHAPTER 2 I CREATING A MULTIVERSE
68